Perforated block for electric conductors.



P. R. MUBERTY- PERFORATBD BLOCK FOR ELECTRIC GONDUGTOBS.

APPLICATION IILBD FEB. 27, 1908.

920,6 1 4. Patented May 4, 1909 Blocks for Electric Conductors.

'ho'le separately-or drilling a large n iunber tide of producing roundholes, and even where UNITED PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK R. MoBEltTY, OF NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNUR TO WESTERNELECTRIC COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. A (ORPORA'PION OF ILIELNDIS LPERFORATED BLOdK FOB, ELECTRIC QONDUOTORS.

To all wlwiri "it may concern:

Be it known that 'I, FnAxn R. MoBEn'rr, a citizen of the United States,residing at New Rochelle, in the: county of Westchester and State of NewYork, have made certain new and useful Improvements in Perforated Myinvention relates to a block having a plurality of perforations therein.in which perforations electric conductors are adapted to pass throughand he supported by or mounted upon the block. the invention being)ecially designed to attract the mounting of electric conductors in theform of pieces of metal intended to serve as terminals of an electricalswitch, or other electrical device.

l-leretofore in producing a plurality of holes in a block of insulatingmaterial for re eeiving electrica terminals it has beeircustoniary todrill the holes, either drillin' each at the. same time by'means of aring of drills. 'lhis inethod is, of course, on y capa .the holes arespaced snfiiciently far apart to "permit. gangs of drills to be used, isslow and expensive. By means of my invention it he- 1 comes possible notonly to produce perforations of a square or other non-circular form ina. block of material, but it is possible to .produce a very great numberof such holes with the minimum amount of labor and at a i minimum exense.

\Vhen ap uralit'y ot' perforationsis to be formed in'a block ofinsulating or other material in accordance with my invention, the blockis provided with a series of grooves in .one of its faces, and \vithaseries oi grooves in its opposite face extending at an angle to thefirst. mentioned series, and sufliciently deep to intersect the innerextremities of the series on the other face. In this way a hole having ashape determined by the angle of intersection of the grooves and by thecontour ofthe walls of the grooves is formed at each point ofintersection, and as many holes are formed asthere are intersections.Thus by cutting, or otherwise forming, fifty grooves in one face of theblock of material and thirty intersectin grooves on the opposit-e face,fifteen hunt red holes.,will be pro. dnced. In this way the fifteenhundred holes are formed in a very small fraction of the time that wouldbe required to produce them Specification of Letters Patent.

by drilling, even if a gang of drills were em- Patented May 4, 1909.

Application filed February 27, 1908. Serial No. 418,125.

ployed; and the holes may he 01' any form best adapted to lit theperforated block to the use to which it is to be put.

If the grooves are rectangular and extend at right angles to each otheron the opposite fat-e oi the block the holes prodneed will be squarehole By varying the angle oi intersection of the grooves and the contouroi the groove walls. holes of any form desired may he produrcd at thepoints of intersection.

I will describe my invention more particularly by reference to theaccompanying drawings in which--- Figure 1 is a. view of one face of ablock of material having a number of perforations formed in it. inaccordance with my invention, and provided with a few of the number ofelectrical terminals with which it is adapted to be equipped; Fig. 2 isa view of the other face 01' the block; Fig. 3 is a view of the u perend of the block illustrated in Fig.1; 1g. 4 is a view of the ri ht handend of the block shown in Fig. 1; Big. 5 is a sectional view of theblock taken on line 5"? of Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is a perspective view of onecorner of the block; Fi 7 is a view looking at the top of a curved lockin which perforations are formed in accordance with my invention, forthe accommodation of a large DHITlbEI' of metal punchings formingthestationary terminals of an electrical switch.

The use or application of my invention which I have particularlyillustrated in the accompanying drawing, and which 1 shall now describe,is that involved in the production of supporting or inountiin blocks forelectrical conductors, especially electrical terminals such as areemployed in electrical switches, and in other electrical apparatus whereit is desired to locate a large number of terminal pieces within a smallspace. The form of terminal block illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6.inclusive, of the drawing, eonsists of a block 1 of insulating materialsuch as hard rubber or insulating fiber-4n which a large number of holes2 is formed by providing the block with a. series f grooves or slotsinone of its faces, and another series 4 of grooves or slots in itsopposite face, the two series extending transversely with respect toeach other and being made of adepth suflicient to cause their; in herextremities to intersect each otheia' As shown, the grooves of eachseries lie parallel is the relation which 1 l to each other, and the twoseries of grooves with the curved surfaces of the block) inon theopposite faces of the block are arranged at right angles to each other.With this relation between the grooves, the per have a rectangularrelation to each other.

It is obvious that by fori'uiug the series of parallel grooves on oneface of the block so that it intersects the series on the other [are ofthe block obliquely, instead of at right angles, perforations can beformed of any shape and saving any straight line relation to each otherdesired. The arrangeuicnt and shape of the holes can also .be furthermodified, if desired, by altering the contour of the walls of thegrooves, and by employing other than the parallel relation illustratedbetween the grooves of the same series. As shown in the drawings, eachgroove is so formed as to cause its inner walls to lie ,parallel to eachother, and this refer to employ. In the particular termina blockillustrated in Figs. 1 to (S, inclusive, there are twelve grooves in oneface of the block and eighteen intersecting grooves in the other face, asquare hole being formed at each point of intersection of one of therooves .with another. The number of holes is, of course, equal to theproduct of the number of grooves on one side of the block into thenumber of grooves on the other side, so that in the particular blockillustrated the total number of perforations is twelve times ei hteen ortwo hundred and sixteen.

n Fig. 7 I have illustrated another form of terminal block provided withperforations, in accordance with my invention, for the accommodation ofthe terminal )ieces to be mounted in it. The terminal lock illustratedin Fig. 7 is of the same character as that illustrated in Figs. 1 to (l,inclusive,

excepting that its surfaces are curved to lie in concentric arcs of acircle, in order to bring the inner ends of the terminal pieces thatitsup orts into position to be traversed by a movalile terminal carriedupon an arm pivoted at the center of the are in which the inner surfaceof the block lies. The terminal block of Fig. 7 consists of a block 5 ofinsulating material-such as hard rubber or the like-having its surfacecurved into the form of a segment of a cylinder, and providcd'with aseries (I of grooves in the inner or concave surface of the block,extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cyllnder, and aseries 7 of parallel rooves on the opposite or convex surface 0 theblock extending at right angles to the series of. grooves in the inneror concave surface of the block. As illustrated in the drawing, theinner extremities of the grooves in the outer or convex surface of theterminal block '5 (represented by the dotted line concentric tel-sect,the inner extremities of the series of grooves formed in the concavesurface of the block, and at each point of intersection a squareperforation of the terminal block is a formed. The other dimension ofthe terminal block illustrated in Fig. 7 is not shown, but it wilt beunderstood that the block may be made of any convenient width, and maybe provided with any desired numher of grooves in its outer or convexsurfac'" As illustrated, there are thirty-seven parallel grooves in theinner surface of the block, and if it. be assumed that the outer surfaceis provided with, say, thirty grooves, the 1 total number ofperforations formed will be eleven hundred and ten.

Perforated blocks of the character (lo-- scribed are intended andadapted to support electrical conductors, or electrical conductingelements passed through perforations in the blocks. The particular formsof terminal block illustrated in the drawings are to be provided with afull equipment of conductors or conducting elements in the form ofterminal pieces; but for the sake of simplicity in illustration only afew terminals are shown mounted in each block. One form of terminalpiece which I have found it eon venient to employ is'that illustrated inthe drawing, consisting of a tlat metal punching t 8 provided withshoulders 9 and a narrow portion or tongue 10 at each end. One of theseterminal pieces is placed with its tongue 10 projecting through theterminal block at each of the perforations 2, the end of the ton ueprotruding slightly beyond the front surfiice of the terminal block, inorder that it may be engaged .by the movable terminal of a switch, ormay be connected with in any other manner desired. The shoulders S) inthe forward end of each terminal piece 8 rest against the bottom of thegroove in which the terminal is mounted, and thus serve to limit theextent to which the forward end can be caused to )rotrude beyond theface of the terminal lock. The terminals may be held in place in theterminal block by means of insulating rods 11, which are thrust throughtransverse series of holes in the webs into which the rear surface ofthe terminal block is divided by the parallel grooves, and through reistering perforations in the forward ends 0 the ter- 'minal pieces. Onaccount of the transverse relation of the grooves .on one surface of theterminal block to the grooves on the other surface, and thecorrespondingly transverse relation to each other of the series of Webs12 and 13 on the opposite'surface of the against lateral dis aeclnent,the webs on eachsurfaee of the )loelt sup orting the terminal pieces aainst lateral is lacement in the direction of the grooves on t ie othersur block, the terminal pieces B are supported grooves, and being)prevented from length- -minal blocksmay be of any form desired, and maybe held in place in any convenient manner.

They may grooves in the flat surfaces of the terminal moclate thestationary which the terminal bloekol Fi 7 forms a tube is put on amilling machine and a series '10 of terminals transverse passing a gangof pro erly s 5.6 enough to intersect lilbek for electrical terminals byinsulatin .9, ail face oftlibfodkri The'terminal pieces are thus heldsecurely 'ii "'"li'sition, bein su ported against lateral istplacement.gy tie transversely extending we s or walls of the (vise displacement ytheshoulders 9 and the rods or pins 11. It w ill, of course, be understood that the [terminals mounted in the ter- The grooves, theintersections of which )roduce the perforations of the terminal lock,may be formed in a number of we s.

be formed, for instance, by mol ch ing them in the opposite surfacesofthe block of insulating material when it is in a plastic condition. Themethod, however,

which I prefer to employ is to cut the locks by subjecting the blocks tothe action of cutters in a mi ling' machine. In reducing the terminalblock illustrated in ig. 7-whieh is particularly adapted toaccomterminals of the automatic switch1 have found it convenient toproceed as follows: A hard rubber tube having dimensions, approximatelycorrespond ing to the dimensions of-the cylinder of segment is at on alathe and bored out to the proper msidediameterfi The outer surface ofthe tube is then turned off to the proper outside diameter, after whichthe of circumferential slots cut on the outer surface to the properdepth by meansof a gang. of properly s acedv cutters, as many slotsbeing cut ast ere are circumferential rows to be accommodated. Theinside axial slots are then cut, preferably one at a time, b means of aninternal gear cutfar, these s ots being out just deep enou h tointersect the lower extremities df t e slots on the outside ofthe tube.lhe tube is then slit axially 1 to se ments of the 'form illustrated inFig. 7 T e ter-- minal blocks shown in Fi s. 1 to 6, inglusive, of thedrawing are me e, prefera 1y; by

aced cutters firstover one cc of t is bloc or plate of' insulatingmaterial, and thin over the opposite face of. the-block. or plate in atransverse direction, the grooves being cut deep at their inner extreimties. It is obvious that this method is apto the production of aplurality of late of metal, as'a mounting ,plicable ,perforations. in ablock or which may then be employs the terminals front the hlock bymeans- 0 interposed insulating material.

\Vhile mynventionis posits face,

to form openings,

the block.

of insulating material having and, a series of v g ooves "angles.thereto in ts opposi e' itaeaaaiflptwo' lug, blocks for the terminals ofelectrical switches, and I have illustrated such a terminal block in myapplication Serial. No. (18,126 filed Feb. 27, 1908, and in this otherppplication have claimed the terminal ock in combination with otherelements of an autol'natic switch.

I claim i l. The ,combinationof a block havinga series of grooves in oneof its faces, and one or a series of intersecting groovesv in an optheintersection of said grooves forming perforations through the block, andelectric conductors mounted in said perforations.

2. The combination of a block of insulating material having a series ofparallel grooves in one of its faces, and a series of parallel groovesin an opposite face, the in tersection of said grooves formingperforations through the block, and electric conductors supported in andpassing through said perforations.

3. A terminal-block, consisting of a block of material having a seriesof grooves form in one of its faces, and a series of interseoting roovesformed in its opposite face, and a p uralit-y of electrical terminalpieces extending throu h the block at the perforations produced y theintersections of the two series of grooves.

4. A terminal block having a series of grooves in opposite faces, saidopposite grooves intersecting to form openings, a plurality of terminalpieces situated in the openings, and means for determinin the positionof the terminals longitudina y of the 0 enings.

5. terminal block consisting of a body of insulating material having aseries 0 parallel grooves in one of its faces and a second series ofparallel grooves in its opposite face, said opposite grooves i tersectmgand a plurality of terminal pieces situated in the openings and beinrovided with shoulders cooperating witfi 6. A terminal block, consistingof a block of insulatingmat'erial having a seriesof parallel groovesformed in one of its faces and a series of arallel grooves at rightangles-thereto in its opposite face, said two series of groovesintersectin to form a plurality of square holes, an a plurality ofrectangular terminal pieces thrust through the square holes in saidblock, said terminal pieces' being provided with shoulders to fix theirposition in the block Wlth respect to movement in one direction.

7. A. terminal block, consisting of-a block a series of formed in one'ofits faces parallel grooves parallel it; tigh series of: grooves;i'ntersc tmg'toform a pluto form a plurality of. perforations, "end Iforations, the webs constituting the m1 right angles thereto in'itsq'ppoei-te'faoe; said i.

series of grooves on the opposite Jfli'qeaof-thei block intersecting attheir innefextremitiee a, plurality 8f terminal pieeeswextendlng throughthe lock by thewaypf said er;

n tli groo res on one side servingtohold said terminals against movementin one lane and the webs eonstitut the wafis of grooves on the otherside 0 the bl'oelr serving to hold the terminals against movement in theother plane. l

9. A terminalblock, consisting of a block or insulating material havinga series of parallel grooves formed in one ofi ts feces and a.transverse series of parellefgrodve formed; in its opposite face saidtwo-series of grooves interslectin 'to arm a plurali of' perforations, ap urelity of terrain grpieoes extendin through'the erforetionein saidblock, an means for niinal ;pieces' in position with lengthwise movementthereof. i FRAN'K R. MoBERTY.

King said terrespect Witnesses; hNlonoLnq E. lmmun,

WILLIA G. MoKmeucr.

